Creating the Game Changer..
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why are we here?
prevail..
To be or become effective or effectual, to be in force, to obtain, to be in general use or practice, to be commonly accepted or adopted; to exist. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Gamble, 155 Fla. 678, 21 So.2d 348, 350.
To succeed..
To win..
"Quousque"
/kwoweskwiy/. Lat. How long; how far; until.
In old conveyances it is used as a word of limitation.
why not talk about?
the real issues at hand..
unless one does not want to see..
prove what is posted as wrong..
and it will go away..
can not..
then they..will go away..
Paranoid shift..
By Michael Hasty
Online Journal Contributing Writer
January 10, 2004—Just before his death, James Jesus Angleton, the legendary chief of counterintelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency, was a bitter man. He felt betrayed by the people he had worked for all his life. In the end, he had come to realize that they were never really interested in American ideals of "freedom" and "democracy." They really only wanted "absolute power."
Angleton told author Joseph Trento that the reason he had gotten the counterintelligence job in the first place was by agreeing not to submit "sixty of Allen Dulles' closest friends" to a polygraph test concerning their business deals with the Nazis. In his end-of-life despair, Angleton assumed that he would see all his old companions again "in hell."
The transformation of James Jesus Angleton from an enthusiastic, Ivy League cold warrior, to a bitter old man, is an extreme example of a phenomenon I call a "paranoid shift." I recognize the phenomenon, because something similar happened to me.
Although I don't remember ever meeting James Jesus Angleton, I worked at the CIA myself as a low-level clerk as a teenager in the '60s. This was at the same time I was beginning to question the government's actions in Vietnam. In fact, my personal "paranoid shift" probably began with the disillusionment I felt when I realized that the story of American foreign policy was, at the very least, more complicated and darker than I had hitherto been led to believe.
But for most of the next 30 years, even though I was a radical, I nevertheless held faith in the basic integrity of a system where power ultimately resided in the people, and whereby if enough people got together and voted, real and fundamental change could happen.
What constitutes my personal paranoid shift is that I no longer believe this to be necessarily true.
In his book, "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower," William Blum warns of how the media will make anything that smacks of "conspiracy theory" an immediate "object of ridicule." This prevents the media from ever having to investigate the many strange interconnections among the ruling class—for example, the relationship between the boards of directors of media giants, and the energy, banking and defense industries. These unmentionable topics are usually treated with what Blum calls "the media's most effective tool—silence." But in case somebody's asking questions, all you have to do is say, "conspiracy theory," and any allegation instantly becomes too frivolous to merit serious attention.
On the other hand, since my paranoid shift, whenever I hear the words "conspiracy theory" (which seems more often, lately) it usually means someone is getting too close to the truth.
Take September 11—which I identify as the date my paranoia actually shifted, though I didn't know it at the time.
Unless I'm paranoid, it doesn't make any sense at all that George W. Bush, commander-in-chief, sat in a second-grade classroom for 20 minutes after he was informed that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center, listening to children read a story about a goat. Nor does it make sense that the Number 2 man, Dick Cheney—even knowing that "the commander" was on a mission in Florida—nevertheless sat at his desk in the White House, watching TV, until the Secret Service dragged him out by the armpits.
Unless I'm paranoid, it makes no sense that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sat at his desk until Flight 77 hit the Pentagon—well over an hour after the military had learned about the multiple hijacking in progress. It also makes no sense that the brand-new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sat in a Senate office for two hours while the 9/11 attacks took place, after leaving explicit instructions that he not be disturbed—which he wasn't.
In other words, while the 9/11 attacks were occurring, the entire top of the chain of command of the most powerful military in the world sat at various desks, inert. Why weren't they in the "Situation Room?" Don't any of them ever watch "West Wing?"
In a sane world, this would be an object of major scandal. But here on this side of the paranoid shift, it's business as usual.
Years, even decades before 9/11, plans had been drawn up for American forces to take control of the oil interests of the Middle East, for various imperialist reasons. And these plans were only contingent upon "a catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor," to gain the majority support of the American public to set the plans into motion. When the opportunity presented itself, the guards looked the other way . . . and presto, the path to global domination was open.
Simple, as long as the media played along. And there is voluminous evidence that the media play along. Number one on Project Censored's annual list of underreported stories in 2002 was the Project for a New American Century (now the infrastructure of the Bush Regime), whose report, published in 2000, contains the above "Pearl Harbor" quote.
Why is it so hard to believe serious people who have repeatedly warned us that powerful ruling elites are out to dominate "the masses?" Did we think Dwight Eisenhower was exaggerating when he warned of the extreme "danger" to democracy of "the military industrial complex?" Was Barry Goldwater just being a quaint old-fashioned John Bircher when he said that the Trilateral Commission was "David Rockefeller's latest scheme to take over the world, by taking over the government of the United States?" Were Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt or Joseph Kennedy just being class traitors when they talked about a small group of wealthy elites who operate as a hidden government behind the government? Especially after he died so mysteriously, why shouldn't we believe the late CIA Director William Colby, who bragged about how the CIA "owns everyone of any major significance in the major media?"
Why can't we believe James Jesus Angleton—a man staring eternal judgment in the face—when he says that the founders of the Cold War national security state were only interested in "absolute power?" Especially when the descendant of a very good friend of Allen Dulles now holds power in the White House.
Prescott Bush, the late, aristocratic senator from Connecticut, and grandfather of George W Bush, was not only a good friend of Allen Dulles, CIA director, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and international business lawyer. He was also a client of Dulles' law firm. As such, he was the beneficiary of Dulles' miraculous ability to scrub the story of Bush's treasonous investments in the Third Reich out of the news media, where it might have interfered with Bush's political career . . . not to mention the presidential careers of his son and grandson.
Recently declassified US government documents, unearthed last October by investigative journalist John Buchanan at the New Hampshire Gazette, reveal that Prescott Bush's involvement in financing and arming the Nazis was more extensive than previously known. Not only was Bush managing director of the Union Banking Corporation, the American branch of Hitler's chief financier's banking network; but among the other companies where Bush was a director—and which were seized by the American government in 1942, under the Trading With the Enemy Act—were a shipping line which imported German spies; an energy company that supplied the Luftwaffe with high-ethyl fuel; and a steel company that employed Jewish slave labor from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Like all the other Bush scandals that have been swept under the rug in the privatized censorship of the corporate media, these revelations have been largely ignored, with the exception of a single article in the Associated Press. And there are those, even on the left, who question the current relevance of this information.
But Prescott Bush's dealings with the Nazis do more than illustrate a family pattern of genteel treason and war profiteering—from George Senior's sale of TOW missiles to Iran at the same time he was selling biological and chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein, to Junior's zany misadventures in crony capitalism in present-day Iraq.
More disturbing by far are the many eerie parallels between Adolph Hitler and George W. Bush:
A conservative, authoritarian style, with public appearances in military uniform (which no previous American president has ever done while in office). Government by secrecy, propaganda and deception. Open assaults on labor unions and workers' rights. Preemptive war and militant nationalism. Contempt for international law and treaties. Suspiciously convenient "terrorist" attacks, to justify a police state and the suspension of liberties. A carefully manufactured image of "The Leader," who's still just a "regular guy" and a "moderate." "Freedom" as the rationale for every action. Fantasy economic growth, based on unprecedented budget deficits and massive military spending.
And a cold, pragmatic ideology of fascism—including the violent suppression of dissent and other human rights; the use of torture, assassination and concentration camps; and most important, Benito Mussolini's preferred definition of "fascism" as "corporatism, because it binds together the interests of corporations and the state."
By their fruits, you shall know them.
What perplexes me most is probably the same question that plagues most paranoiacs: why don't other people see these connections?
Oh, sure, there may be millions of us, lurking at websites like Online Journal, From the Wilderness, Center for Cooperative Research, and the Center for Research on Globalization, checking out right-wing conspiracists and the galaxy of 9/11 sites, and reading columnists like Chris Floyd at the Moscow Times, and Maureen Farrell at Buzzflash. But we know we are only a furtive minority, the human remnant among the pod people in the live-action, 21st-century version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
And being paranoid, we have to figure out, with an answer that fits into our system, why more people don't see the connections we do. Fortunately, there are a number of possible explanations.
First on the list would have to be what Marshal McLuhan called the "cave art of the electronic age:" advertising. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Karl Rove, gave credit for most of his ideas on how to manipulate mass opinion to American commercial advertising, and to the then-new science of "public relations." But the public relations universe available to the corporate empire that rules the world today makes the Goebbels operation look primitive. The precision of communications technology and graphics; the century of research on human psychology and emotion; and the uniquely centralized control of triumphant post-Cold War monopoly capitalism, have combined to the point where "the manufacture of consent" can be set on automatic pilot.
A second major reason people won't make the paranoid shift is that they are too fundamentally decent. They can't believe that the elected leaders of our country, the people they've been taught through 12 years of public school to admire and trust, are capable of sending young American soldiers to their deaths and slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent civilians, just to satisfy their greed—especially when they're so rich in the first place. Besides, America is good, and the media are liberal and overly critical.
Third, people don't want to look like fools. Being a "conspiracy theorist" is like being a creationist. The educated opinion of eminent experts on every TV and radio network is that any discussion of "oil" being a motivation for the US invasion of Iraq is just out of bounds, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a "conspiracy theorist." We can trust the integrity of our 'no-bid" contracting in Iraq, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a "conspiracy theorist." Of course, people sometimes make mistakes, but our military and intelligence community did the best they could on and before September 11, and anybody who thinks otherwise is a "conspiracy theorist."
Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin of JFK, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a "conspiracy theorist."
Perhaps the biggest hidden reason people don't make the paranoid shift is that knowledge brings responsibility. If we acknowledge that an inner circle of ruling elites controls the world's most powerful military and intelligence system; controls the international banking system; controls the most effective and far-reaching propaganda network in history; controls all three branches of government in the world's only superpower; and controls the technology that counts the people's votes, we might be then forced to conclude that we don't live in a particularly democratic system. And then voting and making contributions and trying to stay informed wouldn't be enough. Because then the duty of citizenship would go beyond serving as a loyal opposition, to serving as a "loyal resistance"—like the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, except that in this case the resistance to fascism would be on the side of the national ideals, rather than the government; and a violent insurgency would not only play into the empire's hands, it would be doomed from the start.
Forming a nonviolent resistance movement, on the other hand, might mean forsaking some middle class comfort, and it would doubtless require a lot of work. It would mean educating ourselves and others about the nature of the truly apocalyptic beast we face. It would mean organizing at the most basic neighborhood level, face to face. (We cannot put our trust in the empire's technology.) It would mean reaching across turf lines and transcending single-issue politics, forming coalitions and sharing data and names and strategies, and applying energy at every level of government, local to global. It would also probably mean civil disobedience, at a time when the Bush regime is starting to classify that action as "terrorism." In the end, it may mean organizing a progressive confederacy to govern ourselves, just as our revolutionary founders formed the Continental Congress. It would mean being wise as serpents, and gentle as doves.
It would be a lot of work. It would also require critical mass. A paradigm shift.
But as a paranoid, I'm ready to join the resistance. And the main reason is I no longer think that the "conspiracy" is much of a "theory."
That the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that the murder of John Fitzgerald Kennedy was "probably" the result of "a conspiracy," and that 70 percent of Americans agree with this conclusion, is not a "theory." It's fact.
That the Bay of Pigs fiasco, "Operation Zapata," was organized by members of Skull and Bones, the ghoulish and powerful secret society at Yale University whose membership also included Prescott, George Herbert Walker and George W Bush; that two of the ships that carried the Cuban counterrevolutionaries to their appointment with absurdity were named the "Barbara" and the "Houston"—George HW Bush's city of residence at the time—and that the oil company Bush owned, then operating in the Caribbean area, was named "Zapata," is not "theory." It's fact.
That George Bush was the CIA director who kept the names of what were estimated to be hundreds of American journalists, considered to be CIA "assets," from the Church Committee, the US Senate Intelligence Committe chaired by Senator Frank Church that investigated the CIA in the 1970s; that a 1971 University of Michigan study concluded that, in America, the more TV you watched, the less you knew; and that a recent survey by international scholars found that Americans were the most "ignorant" of world affairs out of all the populations they studied, is not a "theory." It's fact.
That the Council on Foreign Relations has a history of influence on official US government foreign policy; that the protection of US supplies of Middle East oil has been a central element of American foreign policy since the Second World War; and that global oil production has been in decline since its peak year, 2000, is not "theory." It's fact.
That, in the early 1970s, the newly-formed Trilateral Commission published a report which recommended that, in order for "globalization" to succeed, American manufacturing jobs had to be exported, and American wages had to decline, which is exactly what happened over the next three decades; and that, during that same period, the richest one percent of Americans doubled their share of the national wealth, is not "theory." It's fact.
That, beyond their quasi-public role as agents of the US Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Banks are profit-making corporations, whose beneficiaries include some of America's wealthiest families; and that the United States has a virtual controlling interest in the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization, the three dominant global financial institutions, is not a "theory." It's fact.
That—whether it's heroin from Southeast Asia in the '60s and '70s, or cocaine from Central America and heroin from Afghanistan in the '80s, or cocaine from Colombia in the '90s, or heroin from Afghanistan today—no major CIA covert operation has ever lacked a drug smuggling component, and that the CIA has hired Nazis, fascists, drug dealers, arms smugglers, mass murderers, perverts, sadists, terrorists and the Mafia, is not "theory." It's fact.
That the international oil industry is the dominant player in the global economy; that the Bush family has a decades-long business relationship with the Saudi royal family, Saudi oil money, and the family of Osama bin Laden; that, as president, both George Bushes have favored the interests of oil companies over the public interest; that both George Bushes have personally profited financially from Middle East oil; and that American oil companies doubled their records for quarterly profits in the months just preceding the invasion of Iraq, is not "theory." It's fact.
That the 2000 presidential election was deliberately stolen; that the pro-Bush/anti-Gore bias in the corporate media had spiked markedly in the last three weeks of the campaign; that corporate media were then virtually silent about the Florida recount; and that the Bush 2000 team had planned to challenge the legitimacy of the election if George W had won the popular, but lost the electoral vote—exactly what happened to Gore—is not "theory." It's fact.
That the intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was deceptively "cooked" by the Bush administration; that anybody paying attention to people like former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, knew before the invasion that the weapons were a hoax; and that American forces in Iraq today are applying the same brutal counterinsurgency tactics pioneered in Central America in the 1980s, under the direct supervision of then-Vice President George HW Bush, is not a "theory." It's fact.
That "Rebuilding America's Defenses," the Project for a New American Century's 2000 report, and "The Grand Chessboard," a book published a few years earlier by Trilateral Commission co-founder Zbigniew Brzezinski, both recommended a more robust and imperial US military presence in the oil basin of the Middle East and the Caspian region; and that both also suggested that American public support for this energy crusade would depend on public response to a new "Pearl Harbor," is not "theory." It's fact.
That, in the 1960s, the Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously approved a plan called "Operation Northwoods," to stage terrorist attacks on American soil that could be used to justify an invasion of Cuba; and that there is currently an office in the Pentagon whose function is to instigate terrorist attacks that could be used to justify future strategically-desired military responses, is not a "theory." It's fact.
That neither the accusation by former British Environmental Minister Michael Meacham, Tony Blair's longest-serving cabinet minister, that George W Bush allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen to justify an oil war in the Middle East; nor the RICO lawsuit filed by 9/11 widow Ellen Mariani against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Council on Foreign Relations (among others), on the grounds that they conspired to let the attacks happen to cash in on the ensuing war profiteering, has captured the slightest attention from American corporate media is not a "theory." It's fact.
That the FBI has completely exonerated—though never identified—the speculators who purchased, a few days before the attacks (through a bank whose previous director is now the CIA executive director), an unusual number of "put" options, and who made millions betting that the stocks in American and United Airlines would crash, is not a "theory." It's fact.
That the US intelligence community received numerous warnings, from multiple sources, throughout the summer of 2001, that a major terrorist attack on American interests was imminent; that, according to the chair of the "independent" 9/11 commission, the attacks "could have and should have been prevented," and according to a Senate Intelligence Committee member, "All the dots were connected;" that the White House has verified George W Bush's personal knowledge, as of August 6, 2001, that these terrorist attacks might be domestic and might involve hijacked airliners; that, in the summer of 2001, at the insistence of the American Secret Service, anti-aircraft ordnance was installed around the city of Genoa, Italy, to defend against a possible terrorist suicide attack, by aircraft, against George W Bush, who was attending the economic summit there; and that George W Bush has nevertheless regaled audiences with his first thought upon seeing the "first" plane hit the World Trade Center, which was: "What a terrible pilot," is not "theory." It's fact.
That, on the morning of September 11, 2001: standard procedures and policies at the nation's air defense and aviation bureaucracies were ignored, and communications were delayed; the black boxes of the planes that hit the WTC were destroyed, but hijacker Mohammed Atta's passport was found in pristine condition; high-ranking Pentagon officers had cancelled their commercial flight plans for that morning; George H.W. Bush was meeting in Washington with representatives of Osama bin Laden's family, and other investors in the world's largest private equity firm, the Carlyle Group; the CIA was conducting a previously-scheduled mock exercise of an airliner hitting the Pentagon; the chairs of both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were having breakfast with the chief of Pakistan's intelligence agency, who resigned a week later on suspicion of involvement in the 9/11 attacks; and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States sat in a second grade classroom for 20 minutes after hearing that a second plane had struck the towers, listening to children read a story about a goat, is not "theoretical." These are facts.
That the Bush administration has desperately fought every attempt to independently investigate the events of 9/11, is not a "theory."
Nor, finally, is it in any way a "theory" that the one, single name that can be directly linked to the Third Reich, the US military industrial complex, Skull and Bones, Eastern Establishment good ol' boys, the Illuminati, Big Texas Oil, the Bay of Pigs, the Miami Cubans, the Mafia, the FBI, the JFK assassination, the New World Order, Watergate, the Republican National Committee, Eastern European fascists, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the United Nations, CIA headquarters, the October Surprise, the Iran/Contra scandal, Inslaw, the Christic Institute, Manuel Noriega, drug-running "freedom fighters" and death squads, Iraqgate, Saddam Hussein, weapons of mass destruction, the blood of innocents, the savings and loan crash, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the "Octopus," the "Enterprise," the Afghan mujaheddin, the War on Drugs, Mena (Arkansas), Whitewater, Sun Myung Moon, the Carlyle Group, Osama bin Laden and the Saudi royal family, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, and the presidency and vice-presidency of the United States, is: George Herbert Walker Bush.
"Theory?" To the contrary.
It is a well-documented, tragic and—especially if you're paranoid—terrifying fact.
Michael Hasty is a writer, activist, musician, carpenter and farmer. His award-winning column, "Thinking Locally," appeared for seven years in the Hampshire Review, West Virginia's oldest newspaper. His writing has also appeared in the Highlands Voice, the Washington Peace Letter, the Takoma Park Newsletter, the German magazine Generational Justice, and the Washington Post; and at the websites Common Dreams and Democrats.com. In January 1989, he was the media spokesperson for the counter-inaugural coalition at George Bush's Counter-Inaugural Banquet, which fed hundreds of DC's homeless in front of Union Station, where the official inaugural dinner was being held.
Permission to reprint is granted, provided it includes this autobiographical note, and credit for first publication to Online Journal.
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/011004Hasty/011004hasty.html
might as well stick this in your pipe and smoke it as well..
SECURITY COLLIDES WITH CIVIL LIBERTIES..
Interesting series from the Sacramento Bee newspaper..
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/projects/liberty/story/7457444p-8400138c.html
phil..you might like this one..
MARTHA AND THE TALL POPPIES
By Robert W. Tracinski
As the Martha Stewart case finally goes to trial, it is clear that Ms.
Stewart has already been convicted in the court of public opinion.
Observe the undisguised delight with which reporters and pundits
describe the prospect of seeing Stewart hauled up before the courts.
Listen to the constant stream of jokes about jail cells with matching
curtains--the malicious glee of news anchors and commentators
contemplating the idea of Martha Stewart behind bars, before any of
the evidence against her has been formally presented.
Then ask yourself: Why do so many people have a reflexive hatred of
Martha Stewart? How has a home-decorating expert with a wholesome
public persona come to be regarded as a major cultural villain?
The answer: Martha is hated because she's a tall poppy.
There is a notorious saying in Australia: "You have to cut down the
tall poppies." In other words, anyone who dares to poke his head above
the crowd must be attacked, denigrated, and brought down to the common
level. I don't know whether this "Tall Poppy Syndrome," as it is
called, is really typical of Australian culture, but it is a
widespread trend in American culture--and Martha Stewart has long been
one of its favorite targets.
Long before she was accused of insider trading, Martha-hatred was
already an established industry peddled in dozens of books and
television profiles purporting to reveal Stewart as a shrewish
employer, a neglectful mother, a cold wife, an ungrateful daughter,
and everything else you could dream up. One charge keeps recurring as
the central thread--and real motive--of all these claims: Martha is
too perfect. The problem with Martha Stewart, we are told, is that the
lifestyle she promotes in her books, magazines, and television shows
projects an "unattainable" perfection. Her kitchen is too clean, her
house is too beautiful, her parties are too elegant. She gets too much
done in a day. Such perfection, the charge goes, merely makes everyone
else feel inadequate because they can't measure up.
This attitude is not shared by Martha's many fans (and customers),
even those whose housekeeping is not as lavish as hers. Most people
are able to appreciate the accomplishments of others, even if they
cannot match them. But for those who suffer from Tall Poppy Syndrome,
other people's achievements are an affront, an intolerable reminder of
their own shortcomings. These are the people who desperately search
for dirt to sling at celebrities, to show that they aren't so good
after all--and who rush to join any witch hunt.
The Martha Stewart prosecution is a case study in the Tall Poppy
Syndrome.
Consider the arbitrary nature of the charges against Stewart, which
include the non-crime of "insider trading." The initial accusation
against Stewart was that she was tipped by her broker that ImClone
executives were selling the company's stock. This "inside information"
supposedly gave Stewart an "unfair" advantage. In a "fair" world,
apparently, investors are forced to hold on to their stock even when
they know it's going to crash. Martha's alleged "crime" is not wanting
to lose money.
But even the evidence for this pseudo-crime is thin--which is why
federal prosecutors did not actually indict Stewart on criminal
insider-trading charges. Instead, she is on trial for lying to
prosecutors (about a crime they can't prove she committed). More
ominously, she is on trial for the mere act of publicly proclaiming
her innocence--a declaration protected by the Fifth Amendment, but
described by prosecutors as a "fraud" against her shareholders.
Stewart's lawyers suggest she is being targeted because she is a
successful woman in a "man's world." But ask Bill Gates what kind of
welcome a successful man can expect today. In fact, both are the
target of a deeper hatred.
The basis for this hatred is not mere envy, but a moral code that
makes that ugly emotion seem legitimate: the morality of altruism. We
have been told for centuries that the weak, the incompetent, the most
down-and-out bums on the street are the most worthy objects of our
moral concern--while the highest achievers are at best the bum's
servants, at worst his exploiters. The result is an upside-down
morality, a code in which the better you are, the worse you are. The
more you achieve, the more you are hated.
This hatred of the good is not merely ugly; it is destructive. A
culture that attacks its highest achievers will mow down its tall
poppies--and end up with nothing but weeds.
without free speech no search for truth is possible..
no discovery of truth is useful..
better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech..
the abuse dies in a day, but the delay slays the life of the people..
~ Charles Bradlaugh ~
Source: Speech, 1890
freedom of thought and freedom of speech..
are absolutely necessary..
for the preservation of our country..
the moment either is restricted..
liberty begins to wither and die..
~ John Peter Altgeld ~
Source: 1897
phil..found another good one..
F.B.I. WANTS MORE WIRETAP POWERS..
This time its over Internet phone calls..
http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-7352_3-5137344.html
any comments?
laughing out loud..
phil..this one's for you..
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, YOUR LIBERTY..
One man's encounter with bank spies and financial spy software..
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000783.php
if you don't like it..
don't read it..
ASHCROFT AND GOD..
Is the US attorney general a good Christian?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson84.html
would this be deletion material as well?
just take a tagemet before reading..
and call me in the morning phil..
THE BUSH REGIME ENGINEERED 9-11..
The NYC Truth Movement permanently, and completely, took back Ground Zero from the Neo-Conservative false-patriotic agenda. In true New York fashion, 911 Truth activists unveiled the now legendary banner, which read, “THE BUSH REGIME ENGINEERED 9-11” in front of the World Trade Center footprint.
At least 20 women over the age of 40, of all ethnic backgrounds said, “god bless you for being here.” Dozens of photos were taken by New Yorkers and tourists from all over the world (oddly enough, including tourists from Saudi Arabia), and people were dying to get our information. 90% of the people were open to hear what we had to say, 9% were not, and less than 1% were very frightened of us so they did what any frightened animal does, bark as loud as they can. Another small percentage of people disagreed with us whole-heartily, but chose to engage us in intelligent dialogue. This included off-duty military personnel, more on that later in this report.
But it’s clear, and definitive – New York supports the 9-11 Truth Movement. The NY Truth Movement is calling for an international day of solidarity this Saturday, January 10th. We will be at Ground Zero and by extension, so will you. Make signs and banners of whatever 9-11 Truth message you want to support, and hand out printed educational material.
All day we championed American Patriot Ellen Mariani; we told everyone of the lawsuit she filed against the Bush administration for allowing the 9-11 attacks to happen for political gain. Over 1,000 Deception Dollars were handed out. One woman was distributing Mindy Kleinberg’s historic statement to the so-called “Independent” Commission to investigate 9-11. We let everyone know the Commission has been reduced to a Cover-Up Commission http://propagandamatrix.com/multimedia_priorknowledge_911coverupcommission.html.
Some handed out the recent, brilliant, New York Press weekly newspaper http://www.nypress.com/16/53/news&columns/feature.cfm which had 9-11 as the cover story. There were multiple strategies implemented. The diverse opinions of the NY Truth Movement were well reflected. I primarily stuck with the most damning evidence of all, the controlled demolition of World Trade Center building 7. http://www.911review.org/Wiki/Building7Collapse.shtml.
Obstruction of our Rights
Right at the very start, Jeff Blank was physically grabbed and forced backwards away from the front of the World Trade Center Path Station, and tossed across the street for merely holding a sign. Jeff is a professional resistor of fascism, he heads the “Stop the Police State Coalition”; Lyn Stewart is his defense attorney. Jeff created our sign, and has been promoting this message in NYC for months. Nico Haupt held the banner with Jeff, and as the police forcibly moved them, Nico briefly grabbed onto a street pole in resistance.
I wasn’t there for any of this. I showed up just after the fact as Jeff was in the street yelling, loudly, about free speech and what it means to be free. Very boldly, He compared the Bush regime to the German Nazi regime. Police and Military looked on, as Jeff finished what he had to say, scattered applause came from a few who showed early support.
hat was the last of the police blatantly subverting our Constitutional Rights to free speech. Officer Collins told us to move our sign because we were “blocking a bus stop” but it was funny, no busses were running. Not to mention that we were more than 10 feet away from the bus stop. In fact, we weren’t blocking the bus stop at all. Some vendors actually were right in front of the bus stop, and they immediately moved once the cops messed with us.
Once they moved, the bus stop wasn’t blocked – end of the issue in our eyes. The vendors get hassled regularly even though they have permits. They were very much on our side, and I am personally grateful for their silent solidarity. We weren’t moving, not after they illegally, physically, threw two of us across the street because of their own fear of democracy and free speech. There is nothing illegal about holding a sign in NYC; we were completely within our rights. The police state mentality must be stopped, and will be stopped, by the New York citizens ourselves.
Dialogue, Respect, Understanding…
At one point, two men were visibly upset with the wording of our sign. They asked us directly why we were doing this, and how could we possibly call the Bush administration a “REGIME”?
For the most part, I was the one responding to them. I quite simply pointed to the illegal theft of the 2000 election. Plus many in Europe have compared our illegal invasion of Iraq to Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland. He did not agree completely, though there was much I was saying I could see he did agree with. He said he defends our country everyday so that people like us can do what we do. He clearly stated that we were within our rights, and said with a smile, “hey man, this is New York!” I couldn’t agree more.
After some intense, emotional debate, we came to a point of understanding and respect. His main point was that we were calling HIS BOSS (Bush) a criminal and that reflects on him and other military men and women. I won’t reveal how he defends our country; he shared this with me in such a way that he did not expect it to be reported.
I completely understood his impression, and immediately explained that is not the case. We are not, in any way, attacking him and others who defend this country. A Bronx Vet recently told me soldiers in Iraq don’t have the proper vest to stop the caliber of bullets being shot at them. I said, “do you think this guy (Bush) cares about our soldiers? $87 billion and they can’t get our boys the proper vests to save their lives? This guy is no patriot”.
We even went as deep as to talk about Pearl Harbor. I brought up the definitive book that proves Roosevelt knew and provoked the Pearl Harbor attack, “Day of Deceit”. This man immediately understood, and silently seemed to agree. We left one another respectfully; the friend he was with even walked off with some of our information. Here is an intelligent patriot who wants to serve his country…
Hopefully, he will read our info and see that 9-11 was a war game. Hopefully, when he is involved in a future war game scenario he will think about the information we gave him. Hopefully, he is a true patriot and will be there to thwart the plans of the treasonous traitors that lurk in the shadows of the military-industrial-governmental complex.
Regardless, I will hope for the best, and continue to protest until we get the bulk of this administration subpoenaed, under oath, and in prison where they belong before they have a chance to stage another attack and “delay” the election. William Safire has predicted exactly that will happen as an “October Surprise” before the election. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jan2004/saf-j03.shtml
Let us remember, Safire is a political insider, Nixon’s former speechwriter. I don’t think there will be another election if we don’t get these criminals thrown out, so we must get them subpoenaed and in prison ASAP. That is my #1 priority (but hardly my only strategy). Now is the time for everyone to be in the streets and demand the White House be subpoenaed. More strategies are coming to ensure this happens.
In addition, I ran into more than one fireman who completely understood where we were coming from. These brave souls have many unanswered questions and may be able to puncture the Achilles heal of the Bush regime. Time will tell.
Victims Family Members Still Get No Respect
The new path subway station has been erected right where a majority of the 9-11 victims remains lay. The Coalition of 9-11 Families http://www.memorialfor911.com request for the Path Train station to be named the “World Trade Center Memorial Station” was completely ignored. That’s just disgusting! One very simple, respectful, decent, compassionate request is completely ignored by Port Authority and New York State. Just pathetic, completely heartless, no empathy, no understanding of what type of loss was experienced on that day. They already ignored much of the Coalition of 9-11 families were promised, and now they can’t even make a very simple, respectful, name change?
In my opinion this is very similar to the struggle to properly honor the remains at the African ancestral burial grounds in NYC http://www.seeingblack.com/x091001/burial.shtml.
All they have up in commemoration at Ground Zero are these very average plaques that say much more about the history of the WTC then they do about the victims. In the near future, the NY 9-11 Truth Movement hopes to raise awareness about the plight of the victims’ family members who, in part, feel they have been deceived in their dealings with the State of New York, Port Authority, and the LMDC (Lower Manhattan Development Corporation).
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT..YOUR LIBERTY..
One man's encounter with bank spies and financial spy software..
I went to the bank today. My debit and ATM card had stopped functioning on New Year's Eve. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I must visit the bank to review my account because of "possible fraud".
I arrived at the bank and went to my banker's office. He saw me coming in and said "Hello, Mr. Paine, it's been too long." Once pleasantries were out of the way he asked how he could help me. I explained that my card had stopped working and that I had been informed over the phone that I would have to come in and look over my past transactions, that I would have to look for anything suspicious. That only then could my ATM card -- my sole link to cold, hard cash -- be reactivated.
So he pulled up my account on his computer and rotated the monitor so that we could both see the details of my financial life. He rolled the history back several months and, together, we set to find anything suspicious. As the pages -- the days -- rolled by on-screen I realized that these transactions, these little digital notes, brought back memories. There was that time, at that place, where I was with that person. It was all there, in green and black.
I mentioned to him that these transactions brought back memories. He gave me a knowing smile. He began to extrapolate details of my life, little vignettes, from the transactions on the screen. He said "So, here, on December 13. You get a cup of coffee with a friend. You head a few blocks away and get some Sushi. I hear that restaurant's good. Then you go and take in a show. Oh, here, yes. You have a couple drinks afterward."
I look at him, thinking. The man's right. That was, in fact, exactly what I did that day. As we flipped through the days we started examining Christmas shopping. He asked if the recipient of a particular gift had liked it. I said that she did.
This man, my banker, knows some very private details of my life. He knows where I eat dinner on a daily basis. He knows where I get my coffee. He knows what bars I go to, and when I go to them. He knows where and when I travel. He knows how long I spend in various places, he knows where I like to buy books. He knows that I have donated to political campaigns, he knows which campaigns, and he knows how much I have donated.
Once we had examined the sum of my daily financial life spanning several months we determined, together, that no fraud had been perpetrated. It was at this point that my banker reactivated my ATM card. I thanked him very much for the service.
As we returned to unrelated conversation I noticed a small sign on his desk. It was a small advertisement, a note from a banking services company. It was printed on good stock with a flapping, slightly stylized American flag serving as a backdrop. It was designed like a piece of campaign literature, as if it were trying too hard to appear patriotic. It read "USA PATRIOT Act compliance by..."
I don't remember the name of the company that provided its small sign to my banker. A quick Google search, however, turns up quite a few companies who offer such services. One of them is Aquilan. Aquilan offers a product it calls Aquilan Patriot Manager. They advertise that APM can help financial institutions "Know Your Customers. 'Red Flag' Suspicious Activity. Prevent Money Laundering."
My time with my banker today was innocuous. His hopefully brief foray into the details of my life were largely at my request, largely for my protection. But the USA PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions to report "suspicious activity" to federal law enforcement agencies. As Aquilan's Web site notes, "For most financial institutions, complex distribution channels, clients with multiple relationships, and disparate adminstration and transaction systems make compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act expensive and nearly impossible."
But here Aquilan's software -- and the software of so many other companies, including the one that provided that patriotic sign to my banker -- make the "impossible" possible. As Aquilan observes:
Aquilan Patriot Manager offers the quickest path to full compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening requirements, Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) rules, and required Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) monitoring. By extracting essential information from both client and administration systems, Aquilan helps financial services institutions assemble the 360º view of customer relationships required to identify suspicious activity and meet regulatory requirements.
Aquilan's software works, I am sure, much the same way as the software that identified possible banking fraud. It works quite the same way as the software that prevented me from removing cash from my own bank account, the software that forced me into my bank branch for a half-hour long meeting with my banker. The software that was wrong, that "red-flagged" my account as showing fraudulent activity when, in fact, it did not.
Aquilan's software, and, I'm sure, all other PATRIOT Act verification software, is deeply flawed. This software is prone to false positives, just like the fraud detection software that brought me into the bank on my day off. The PATRIOT Act verification software is as likely to bring the Federal Bureau of Investigation to my door as the fraud detection software was to bring me to my bank branch. It is likely to necessitate a full government examination of my finances, of my habits, of my life.
It is likely to cause the FBI to pour over my financial records just as my banker and I did today. And those little innocent vignettes, those little guesses at my life that my banker engaged in... it is likely to cause the FBI to construct similar vignettes, to "watch" as I have coffee with a friend and later take in a show.
On December 13th of this year President Bush signed H.R. 2417, the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004". After signing the bill Bush gave a statement in which he noted that "The executive branch shall construe these provisions in a manner consistent with the Constitution's commitment..."
What I wouldn't give to hear President Bush pronounce some of the tongue-twisters and verbally dense sentences contained in his statement. Bush says much in the statement, but he does not mention a key provision of H.R. 2417.
That provision of H.R. 2417 expands the FBI's powers to access your and my bank records. On December 17th I wrote about Bush's signing of the bill, saying that "the legislation allows John Ashcroft to issue himself a 'National Security Letter' in order to conduct many searches."
Specifically, Ashcroft and his FBI no longer need to visit with a judge and explain themselves when they want to see your or my bank records. They no longer even have to get a notice from the bank that our banking habits are "suspicious". No longer can a federal judge say "No, I think you're on a fishing expedition. You can't see George Paine's banking information."
Now John Ashcroft — or one of his underlings — simply have to write down on a piece of paper that your or my bank records are somehow related to national security. They must sign this letter and keep it on file. As soon as they do so they may access my bank records and, like my banker, construct little vignettes for themselves about my day-to-day life.
If this doesn't concern you it should. Think back to the skeleton or two that may be in your closet. That purchase at that shady store, your visit to that questionable bar, your meeting with that questionable person. All this information and more can be found — or, more dangerously, inferred — within your bank records.
Does this still not concern you? Well, I won't mention the fact that this new power given to Ashcroft by Bush's signature is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, which states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
I understand that for most people the Fourth Amendment, like the entire Constitution, is little more than a theoretical document. But what you must understand is that it is written like it is for a reason. It is written as it is to prevent the abuse of power. It is written as it is because the Founding Fathers understood that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
For an example of this corruption one must look no further than the Federal Bureau of Investigation itself. Take, for example, the program known as COINTELPRO, a program conceived "to neutralize political dissidents". I write more about COINTELPRO in my post on the signing of H.R. 2417. Suffice it to say that a great many people who had broken no law, who had done nothing wrong, were not only investigated by the FBI but were the targets of campaigns to "discredit and publicly destroy" them.
One must look no further than the Drug Enforcement Administration and Kevin Tamez.
Tamez is fifty years old and lives in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, a pleasant suburb of Philadelphia. Until December Tamez served as the Associate Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's New York office. But on Monday, December 15th, a 214-count indictment was issued against Tamez, as Reuters reported at the time. Tamez was accused of "embezzling DEA funds and using federal resources to conduct work for a private investigations firm."
What federal resources did Tamez misappropriate? Tamez was charged, specifically, with "illegally obtaining information from law enforcement computer systems and databases and using DEA personnel and resources for work he did for a private investigations firm."
Imagine Special Agent Tamez as an FBI agent. Imagine him issuing himself a National Security Letter and proceeding to pass the information gathered with that Letter on to his client, perhaps your spouse, perhaps a business competitor. Your bank records aren't all that Tamez can access. He can access your interactions with virtually every business that deals in your money — that is, nearly all. As I noted earlier, H.R. 2417 allows Tamez to access records "from your auctions on eBay to your credit card receipts to your insurance records".
It isn't only Agent Tamez with access to this information. Do you remember Filegate? That was the scandal in which the White House requested the FBI files of a number of prominent Republicans — and got them. The Clinton Administration requested the files of such Republicans as James Baker, a former Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief of Staff to a president.
In fact more than 1,000 FBI files were requested and obtained by the White House. At the time Judicial Watch (a group which was a significant thorn in the side of the Clinton Administration and now of the Bush Administration) accused the White House of using the "Ellen Rometsch strategy", explaining that "By historical definition, the Ellen Rometsch strategy is the use of FBI files by J. Edgar Hoover".
Larry Klayman, chairman and general counsel of Judicial Watch, said that "Judicial Watch and others believe that this is the Clinton Administration's last line of defense to its scandals, to smear people, to scare people, to make sure than they can hold on to power."
This sounds uncomfortably familiar. The Bush Administration, after all, engaged in similar but even more egregious behavior recently. After former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson wrote an op/ed piece in the New York Times accusing Bush of lying about Iraqi uranium procurement efforts the White House leaked information that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA operative. The leak appeared to be, as Warblogging wrote shortly after, calculated by Karl Rove "to send a very, very specific message. He wanted everyone to see what happens when someone speaks out against Bush. He wanted everyone to see the consequences of contradicting George Bush's lies. Careers end, lives are destroyed. Those are the consequences, that was the message."
And so we return to your bank records, to your purchases from Amazon.com, to your visits to that sketchy bar or the presents purchased for that man or woman who isn't your spouse. Not only your bank records, but the bank records of influential politicians opposed to whatever party may currently be in power. The detailed records and vignettes of lives opposed to whoever may be currently in the seat of power. And to Valerie Plame, to Filegate, to Special Agent Tamez, to COINTELPRO.
We realize that the Fourth Amendment — and the rest of the Bill of Rights — exist for a reason, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. With H.R. 2417, with the USA PATRIOT Act, with its ability to detain American citizens indefinitely without charge or access to attorneys or judges the Bush Administration now has absolute power. And with the Valerie Plame affair and so many others the Bush Administration has proved that absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely.
The only hope we have now is for the entire electorate to appeal en masse for the restoration of restraint and accountability to the White House. You and your friends, you and your coworkers, you and your family must appeal to the press and to your elected officials for the return of the rule of the Constitution and reason. You must reassert your civil liberties and insist that White House aides, overzealous FBI agents and corrupt DEA agents not have access to your banking records without probable cause. You must insist that your private details remain private without probable cause. You must insist that you and your neighbors not be jailed without charge, not be disappeared without lawyers, not be held without judicial review.
You must insist that the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote the Fourth Amendment — and the rest of the Constitution — and that their wisdom is no less relevant today than it was in 1776.
Do not think for a moment that your status as a relatively law abiding and loyal citizen will save you from the long arm of the government. George Soros recounts just how little being a law abiding and loyal citizen can do for you when it's too late. He explains in his latest book how, when he was thirteen, he was tasked with delivering notices to the Jewish community of Budapest, Hungary ordering them to appear at the Rabbinical Seminary with food and clothing the following day. On the advice of his father he informed those he delivered the notice to that they would be deported when they showed up. One man told him "They can't do that to me. I've always been a law-abiding citizen." The following day he was sent to a concentration camp.
I am not saying that George Bush is going to send you or anyone else to a concentration camp tomorrow. I am saying, however, that civil liberties are everyone's responsibility — and that when the rubber hits the road it matters not whether you are a law-abiding citizen or not. It matters only whether someone in power wants you or not.
Posted by George Paine / Comments (111) / TrackBack (3)
From the "Democracy in America" Department as of 09:05 PM
LINK: http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000783.php
ASHCROFT AND GOD..
Is the US attorney general a good Christian?.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson84.html
eternal vigilance..
is the price of liberty..
~ Wendell Phillips ~
yayaa..nice swing..
The Latest IRS Scare Campaign..
Cato Institute..
http://www.cato.org/dailys/04-12-02.html
Casino Chips May Pave Way for Tagged Bank Notes..
Wed January 7, 2004 05:15 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - New casino chips with built-in radio identification tags may pave the way for traceable banknotes, boosting efforts to beat fraud, New Scientist Magazine said on Wednesday.
A radio frequency identification tag (RFID) in the chips will enable casinos to spot counterfeits and monitor the behavior of gamblers, allowing them to check that big winners are not cheating the house.
The tags broadcast a unique identification code when triggered by a reader device and can work over distances of up to a few dozen meters.
If the technology can be transferred to notes, banks and stores will easily be able to check that money is not counterfeit.
Last year there was speculation that the European Central Bank was planning to fit radio tags in euro banknotes to combat fraud.
But the idea met with strong opposition from privacy advocates who objected to the possibility that individuals' spending could be tracked.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=4089750
GOLD WARS AS SEEN BY THE SWISS..
Switzerland's views on the attack against sound money..
http://www.fame.org/goldwars.htm
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT..YOUR LIBERTY..
One man's encounter with bank spies and financial spy software..
I went to the bank today. My debit and ATM card had stopped functioning on New Year's Eve. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I must visit the bank to review my account because of "possible fraud".
I arrived at the bank and went to my banker's office. He saw me coming in and said "Hello, Mr. Paine, it's been too long." Once pleasantries were out of the way he asked how he could help me. I explained that my card had stopped working and that I had been informed over the phone that I would have to come in and look over my past transactions, that I would have to look for anything suspicious. That only then could my ATM card -- my sole link to cold, hard cash -- be reactivated.
So he pulled up my account on his computer and rotated the monitor so that we could both see the details of my financial life. He rolled the history back several months and, together, we set to find anything suspicious. As the pages -- the days -- rolled by on-screen I realized that these transactions, these little digital notes, brought back memories. There was that time, at that place, where I was with that person. It was all there, in green and black.
I mentioned to him that these transactions brought back memories. He gave me a knowing smile. He began to extrapolate details of my life, little vignettes, from the transactions on the screen. He said "So, here, on December 13. You get a cup of coffee with a friend. You head a few blocks away and get some Sushi. I hear that restaurant's good. Then you go and take in a show. Oh, here, yes. You have a couple drinks afterward."
I look at him, thinking. The man's right. That was, in fact, exactly what I did that day. As we flipped through the days we started examining Christmas shopping. He asked if the recipient of a particular gift had liked it. I said that she did.
This man, my banker, knows some very private details of my life. He knows where I eat dinner on a daily basis. He knows where I get my coffee. He knows what bars I go to, and when I go to them. He knows where and when I travel. He knows how long I spend in various places, he knows where I like to buy books. He knows that I have donated to political campaigns, he knows which campaigns, and he knows how much I have donated.
Once we had examined the sum of my daily financial life spanning several months we determined, together, that no fraud had been perpetrated. It was at this point that my banker reactivated my ATM card. I thanked him very much for the service.
As we returned to unrelated conversation I noticed a small sign on his desk. It was a small advertisement, a note from a banking services company. It was printed on good stock with a flapping, slightly stylized American flag serving as a backdrop. It was designed like a piece of campaign literature, as if it were trying too hard to appear patriotic. It read "USA PATRIOT Act compliance by..."
I don't remember the name of the company that provided its small sign to my banker. A quick Google search, however, turns up quite a few companies who offer such services. One of them is Aquilan. Aquilan offers a product it calls Aquilan Patriot Manager. They advertise that APM can help financial institutions "Know Your Customers. 'Red Flag' Suspicious Activity. Prevent Money Laundering."
My time with my banker today was innocuous. His hopefully brief foray into the details of my life were largely at my request, largely for my protection. But the USA PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions to report "suspicious activity" to federal law enforcement agencies. As Aquilan's Web site notes, "For most financial institutions, complex distribution channels, clients with multiple relationships, and disparate adminstration and transaction systems make compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act expensive and nearly impossible."
But here Aquilan's software -- and the software of so many other companies, including the one that provided that patriotic sign to my banker -- make the "impossible" possible. As Aquilan observes:
Aquilan Patriot Manager offers the quickest path to full compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening requirements, Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) rules, and required Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) monitoring. By extracting essential information from both client and administration systems, Aquilan helps financial services institutions assemble the 360º view of customer relationships required to identify suspicious activity and meet regulatory requirements.
Aquilan's software works, I am sure, much the same way as the software that identified possible banking fraud. It works quite the same way as the software that prevented me from removing cash from my own bank account, the software that forced me into my bank branch for a half-hour long meeting with my banker. The software that was wrong, that "red-flagged" my account as showing fraudulent activity when, in fact, it did not.
Aquilan's software, and, I'm sure, all other PATRIOT Act verification software, is deeply flawed. This software is prone to false positives, just like the fraud detection software that brought me into the bank on my day off. The PATRIOT Act verification software is as likely to bring the Federal Bureau of Investigation to my door as the fraud detection software was to bring me to my bank branch. It is likely to necessitate a full government examination of my finances, of my habits, of my life.
It is likely to cause the FBI to pour over my financial records just as my banker and I did today. And those little innocent vignettes, those little guesses at my life that my banker engaged in... it is likely to cause the FBI to construct similar vignettes, to "watch" as I have coffee with a friend and later take in a show.
On December 13th of this year President Bush signed H.R. 2417, the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004". After signing the bill Bush gave a statement in which he noted that "The executive branch shall construe these provisions in a manner consistent with the Constitution's commitment..."
What I wouldn't give to hear President Bush pronounce some of the tongue-twisters and verbally dense sentences contained in his statement. Bush says much in the statement, but he does not mention a key provision of H.R. 2417.
That provision of H.R. 2417 expands the FBI's powers to access your and my bank records. On December 17th I wrote about Bush's signing of the bill, saying that "the legislation allows John Ashcroft to issue himself a 'National Security Letter' in order to conduct many searches."
Specifically, Ashcroft and his FBI no longer need to visit with a judge and explain themselves when they want to see your or my bank records. They no longer even have to get a notice from the bank that our banking habits are "suspicious". No longer can a federal judge say "No, I think you're on a fishing expedition. You can't see George Paine's banking information."
Now John Ashcroft — or one of his underlings — simply have to write down on a piece of paper that your or my bank records are somehow related to national security. They must sign this letter and keep it on file. As soon as they do so they may access my bank records and, like my banker, construct little vignettes for themselves about my day-to-day life.
If this doesn't concern you it should. Think back to the skeleton or two that may be in your closet. That purchase at that shady store, your visit to that questionable bar, your meeting with that questionable person. All this information and more can be found — or, more dangerously, inferred — within your bank records.
Does this still not concern you? Well, I won't mention the fact that this new power given to Ashcroft by Bush's signature is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, which states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
I understand that for most people the Fourth Amendment, like the entire Constitution, is little more than a theoretical document. But what you must understand is that it is written like it is for a reason. It is written as it is to prevent the abuse of power. It is written as it is because the Founding Fathers understood that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
For an example of this corruption one must look no further than the Federal Bureau of Investigation itself. Take, for example, the program known as COINTELPRO, a program conceived "to neutralize political dissidents". I write more about COINTELPRO in my post on the signing of H.R. 2417. Suffice it to say that a great many people who had broken no law, who had done nothing wrong, were not only investigated by the FBI but were the targets of campaigns to "discredit and publicly destroy" them.
One must look no further than the Drug Enforcement Administration and Kevin Tamez.
Tamez is fifty years old and lives in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, a pleasant suburb of Philadelphia. Until December Tamez served as the Associate Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's New York office. But on Monday, December 15th, a 214-count indictment was issued against Tamez, as Reuters reported at the time. Tamez was accused of "embezzling DEA funds and using federal resources to conduct work for a private investigations firm."
What federal resources did Tamez misappropriate? Tamez was charged, specifically, with "illegally obtaining information from law enforcement computer systems and databases and using DEA personnel and resources for work he did for a private investigations firm."
Imagine Special Agent Tamez as an FBI agent. Imagine him issuing himself a National Security Letter and proceeding to pass the information gathered with that Letter on to his client, perhaps your spouse, perhaps a business competitor. Your bank records aren't all that Tamez can access. He can access your interactions with virtually every business that deals in your money — that is, nearly all. As I noted earlier, H.R. 2417 allows Tamez to access records "from your auctions on eBay to your credit card receipts to your insurance records".
It isn't only Agent Tamez with access to this information. Do you remember Filegate? That was the scandal in which the White House requested the FBI files of a number of prominent Republicans — and got them. The Clinton Administration requested the files of such Republicans as James Baker, a former Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief of Staff to a president.
In fact more than 1,000 FBI files were requested and obtained by the White House. At the time Judicial Watch (a group which was a significant thorn in the side of the Clinton Administration and now of the Bush Administration) accused the White House of using the "Ellen Rometsch strategy", explaining that "By historical definition, the Ellen Rometsch strategy is the use of FBI files by J. Edgar Hoover".
Larry Klayman, chairman and general counsel of Judicial Watch, said that "Judicial Watch and others believe that this is the Clinton Administration's last line of defense to its scandals, to smear people, to scare people, to make sure than they can hold on to power."
This sounds uncomfortably familiar. The Bush Administration, after all, engaged in similar but even more egregious behavior recently. After former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson wrote an op/ed piece in the New York Times accusing Bush of lying about Iraqi uranium procurement efforts the White House leaked information that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA operative. The leak appeared to be, as Warblogging wrote shortly after, calculated by Karl Rove "to send a very, very specific message. He wanted everyone to see what happens when someone speaks out against Bush. He wanted everyone to see the consequences of contradicting George Bush's lies. Careers end, lives are destroyed. Those are the consequences, that was the message."
And so we return to your bank records, to your purchases from Amazon.com, to your visits to that sketchy bar or the presents purchased for that man or woman who isn't your spouse. Not only your bank records, but the bank records of influential politicians opposed to whatever party may currently be in power. The detailed records and vignettes of lives opposed to whoever may be currently in the seat of power. And to Valerie Plame, to Filegate, to Special Agent Tamez, to COINTELPRO.
We realize that the Fourth Amendment — and the rest of the Bill of Rights — exist for a reason, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. With H.R. 2417, with the USA PATRIOT Act, with its ability to detain American citizens indefinitely without charge or access to attorneys or judges the Bush Administration now has absolute power. And with the Valerie Plame affair and so many others the Bush Administration has proved that absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely.
The only hope we have now is for the entire electorate to appeal en masse for the restoration of restraint and accountability to the White House. You and your friends, you and your coworkers, you and your family must appeal to the press and to your elected officials for the return of the rule of the Constitution and reason. You must reassert your civil liberties and insist that White House aides, overzealous FBI agents and corrupt DEA agents not have access to your banking records without probable cause. You must insist that your private details remain private without probable cause. You must insist that you and your neighbors not be jailed without charge, not be disappeared without lawyers, not be held without judicial review.
You must insist that the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote the Fourth Amendment — and the rest of the Constitution — and that their wisdom is no less relevant today than it was in 1776.
Do not think for a moment that your status as a relatively law abiding and loyal citizen will save you from the long arm of the government. George Soros recounts just how little being a law abiding and loyal citizen can do for you when it's too late. He explains in his latest book how, when he was thirteen, he was tasked with delivering notices to the Jewish community of Budapest, Hungary ordering them to appear at the Rabbinical Seminary with food and clothing the following day. On the advice of his father he informed those he delivered the notice to that they would be deported when they showed up. One man told him "They can't do that to me. I've always been a law-abiding citizen." The following day he was sent to a concentration camp.
I am not saying that George Bush is going to send you or anyone else to a concentration camp tomorrow. I am saying, however, that civil liberties are everyone's responsibility — and that when the rubber hits the road it matters not whether you are a law-abiding citizen or not. It matters only whether someone in power wants you or not.
Posted by George Paine / Comments (111) / TrackBack (3)
From the "Democracy in America" Department as of 09:05 PM
LINK: http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000783.php
MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL TERROR?.
Send money to your home country, get labeled a terrorist?.
Terror route seen in bank program..
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A new Bank of America program allowing Mexican nationals in the United States to wire cash home has raised concern among law enforcement officials and others who question whether it also gives terrorists and drug smugglers a new way to route illicit cash out of the country.
The program, known as "SafeSend," provides online access for Mexican nationals to transfer money from "any phone or computer" to relatives or associates in Mexico who hold a SafeSend automated teller machine card.
Detailed on the bank's Web site (www.bankofamerica.com) in both English and Spanish, the program guarantees delivery of cash transactions of up to $1,500 each in "less than six minutes" for a $10 fee. The Web site says cash transfers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Dan Stein, president of the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said SafeSend "clearly is designed to promote felonious behavior," saying it allows the anonymous and unrestricted movement of cash between the two nations.
"It is another program offered by yet another institution willing to put its bottom line ahead of national security," Mr. Stein said. "Since they won't know who's using their cards, because there are no safeguards against document fraud, it will be possible for anyone to route money anonymously — including terrorists."
Bank of America spokeswoman Terry Bolling said SafeSend complies with federal law, including the USA Patriot Act, in requiring proper identification to open an account and limiting the amount of cash that can be sent in any given transaction.
Miss Bolling, who described Mexican nationals as "an important segment" of the bank's customer base, noted that the $1,500-per-transaction limit is well below government reporting requirements for cash transactions of $10,000 in a single day. She said she did not know, however, how many SafeSend transactions a person could make per day.
Mike Cutler, a retired Immigration and Naturalization Service senior agent who headed major INS investigations into drug trafficking for more than two decades, said foreign nationals have the right to wire money to other countries, but they need to meet strict reporting requirements and other national security concerns.
"I can almost hear a sucking sound as yet more money leaves our country, adversely impacting our economy and increasing our nation's debt," Mr. Cutler said. "And, of course, all of the money will have been earned by hardworking aliens, not to be confused with those who earn their money through such nefarious activities as drug smuggling."
Mr. Cutler also said SafeSend cannot guarantee the identities of those who send or receive cash at a time when document fraud "has become a booming cottage industry."
Studies show that Mexican nationals in the United States will send $14 billion home this year. Nearly 20 percent of Mexico's 100 million people regularly receive cash from relatives and others in the United States.
SafeSend requires the sender to have a Social Security number, although the bank's Web site says those without a card can enroll by calling a toll-free number. Other requirements are an e-mail address and a valid check or credit card, which the bank noted it can help the applicants obtain. The site also notes that the sender has control over the system because it is an "automated process, so there are fewer intermediaries."
Bank of America was a leading proponent of the digitally coded "matricula consular cards" issued by Mexico to its citizens in the United States. The cards are used by Mexican nationals as legal forms of identification. Nearly 1 million were issued last year, despite law enforcement warnings of potential widespread document fraud.
FBI Assistant Director Steve McCraw, who heads the bureau's Office of Intelligence, told a House subcommittee this year that the matricula cards were being used by illegal aliens, noting that foreign nationals in this country already had other forms of legal identification, including passports.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040105-103758-4958r.htm
pay attention people..
it is happening..
before our eyes..
FEMA.. The Structure of Tyranny?.
http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/newmanj/newmanj1.html
July 7, 2003
by John Newman mailto:themick@hushmail.com
First, a quick history lesson..
Upon his ascension to the highest office in all the land, Ronald Reagan appointed one Louis O. Giuffrida Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA..
Giufrida seemed an odd choice..
FEMA deals primarily with disaster relief, whereas the new Director was a former General in the California National Guard..
One would wonder what he knew about rebuilding after floods and tornadoes, but in the event, it was irrelevant..
The reason for Giufrida's appointment would come out eventually .. as a high ranking officer in the National Guard, the general had formulated several contingency plans for what was euphemistically referred to as domestic counter insurgency..
Essentially, Giuffrida favored using American combat troops to round up individuals protesting, say, an American invasion of Nicaragua..
These individuals would then be thrown into detention centers until the emergency was deemed over..
Giuffrida's counterinsurgency plans followed him to FEMA..
Various executive orders by the Reagan White House still in the Federal Register granted the agency vast new powers..
For instance, EO 10995 allowed FEMA to seize any and all communications media..
EO 11000 gave FEMA the power to arrest any citizen and put them to work on various federal projects..
EO 11051 let FEMA institute any new executive orders the felt necessary during a national emergency..
Perhaps worst of all, through Executive Order 11490, the president granted himself the right to declare such an emergency at any time, without consulting Congress or the American people..
This would allow the president and FEMA to rule the country via outright martial law..
Perhaps the most troubling harbinger of things to come was Readiness Exercise 1984, or RX-84..
In 1984, the military conducted an exercise, codenamed Night Train, a war game scenario dealing with, among other things, the invasion of war torn Nicaragua by American troops..
In conjunction with Night Train, FEMA conducted RX-84..
This was an exercise for what FEMA now viewed as its main mission .. the arrest of up to 100,000 American citizens deemed national security threats, and their imprisonment, without trial, in one of the several detention centers scattered around the country..
Thankfully, before anything came of these plans, the heat came down on Giuffrida's fiefdom..
Although infringing on the natural rights of man was all well and good, the agency was collecting intelligence on domestic troublemakers under the guise of counter-terrorism..
This cut in on the FBI's territory, and that just wouldn't do..
Attorney General William French Smith forced the matter, demanding FEMA turn over the intelligence it had gathered..
In the end, Giuffrida turned over some 12,000 dossiers on political activists, survivalists, and tax protesters..
This public scolding, along with a series of articles about the agency's abuses by investigative reporter Jack Anderson, lead to calls by some for change at FEMA..
Finally, in 1985, when it was discovered that General Giuffrida had used $170,000 of the agency's funds to build himself a swinging bachelor pad in Emmitsburg, Maryland, he resigned in disgrace..
Throughout the late '80s and early '90s, FEMA returned to its original role .. giving your tax dollars to idiots who should have bought flood insurance..
However since 9/11, the agency has made numerous disturbing moves to reassert its power..
A quick glance at the Department of Homeland Security will reveal that this isn't a new agency .. it's just FEMA, with a greatly expanded mandate and a few other agencies grafted on..
This will swell FEMA's ranks from 2,600 to 170,000 employees..
What's worse, the Department of Homeland Security is slated to have more armed agents than any other domestic law enforcement group..
The agency has now received the role it has always desired, as the catch-all guarantor of national security..
Furthermore, FEMA appears to be actively obscuring its position of prominence in the new order..
Remember Operation TIPS?.
The program's website stated that it was a project of the U.S. Department of Justice..
This is an outright, bald faced lie..
According to research conducted by investigative journalist Ritt Goldstein, the funding and personnel for Operation TIPS lead straight back to FEMA..
The Executive Branch, knowing that somebody would remember the abuses of the 1980s, deliberately hid the agency's involvement..
And perhaps most disturbing of all?.
In the summer of 2002, the conservative publication Newsmax reported FEMA was searching out qualified contractors for three $6 million dollar building projects..
What's on the blueprints?.
Three temporary cities, supposedly for use by Americans fleeing a nuclear, chemical, or biological attack..
Of course, this was precisely the excuse given for Giuffrida's internment camps..
Probably just a coincidence, right?.
Right?.
discuss this column in the forum
http://www.strike-the-root.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=root_strikers
John L. Newman is a political science major, bound for the University of Iowa in August..
His personal site Reason Prevails.. http://themick13.tripod.com caters to that rare individual who is a) mad as hell, and b) unwilling to take it anymore..
Under the FEMA plan..
There is no contingency by which Constitutional power is restored..
FEMA..The Secret Government..
By Harry V. Martin with research assistance from David Caul
Copyright FreeAmerica and Harry V. Martin, 1995
Some people have referred to it as the "secret government" of the United States..
It is not an elected body, it does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a quasi-secret budget in the billions of dollars..
This government organization has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress, it has the power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the Constitution..
Not only is it the most powerful entity in the United States, but it was not even created under Constitutional law by the Congress..
It was a product of a Presidential Executive Order..
No, it is not the U.S. military nor the Central Intelligence Agency, they are subject to Congress..
The organization is called FEMA, which stands for the Federal Emergency Management Agency..
Originally conceived in the Richard Nixon Administration, it was refined by President Jimmy Carter and given teeth in the Ronald Reagan and George Bush Administrations..
FEMA had one original concept when it was created, to assure the survivability of the United States government in the event of a nuclear attack on this nation..
It was also provided with the task of being a federal coordinating body during times of domestic disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes..
Its awesome powers grow under the tutelage of people like Lt. Col. Oliver North and General Richard Secord, the architects on the Iran-Contra scandal and the looting of America's savings and loan institutions..
FEMA has even been given control of the State Defense Forces, a rag-tag, often considered neo-Nazi, civilian army that will substitute for the National Guard, if the Guard is called to duty overseas..
THE MOST POWERFUL ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Though it may be the most powerful organization in the United States, few people know it even exists..
But it has crept into our private lives..
Even mortgage papers contain FEMA's name in small print if the property in question is near a flood plain..
FEMA was deeply involved in the Los Angeles riots and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area..
Some of the black helicopter traffic reported throughout the United States, but mainly in the West, California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado, are flown by FEMA personnel..
FEMA has been given responsibility for many new disasters including urban forest fires, home heating emergencies, refugee situations, urban riots, and emergency planning for nuclear and toxic incidents..
In the West, it works in conjunction with the Sixth Army..
FEMA was created in a series of Executive Orders..
A Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not, becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal Registry..
Congress is by-passed..
Executive Order Number 12148 created the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is to interface with the Department of Defense for civil defense planning and funding..
An "emergency czar" was appointed..
FEMA has only spent about 6 percent of its budget on national emergencies, the bulk of their funding has been used for the construction of secret underground facilities to assure continuity of government in case of a major emergency, foreign or domestic..
Executive Order Number 12656 appointed the National Security Council as the principal body that should consider emergency powers..
This allows the government to increase domestic intelligence and surveillance of U.S. citizens and would restrict the freedom of movement within the United States and grant the government the right to isolate large groups of civilians..
The National Guard could be federalized to seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all ports of entry..
Here are just a few Executive Orders associated with FEMA that would suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights..
These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly 30 years and could be enacted by the stroke of a Presidential pen..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication media..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over a fifteen year period..
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months..
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has broad powers in every aspect of the nation..
General Frank Salzedo, chief of FEMA's Civil Security Division stated in a 1983 conference that he saw FEMA's role as a "new frontier in the protection of individual and governmental leaders from assassination, and of civil and military installations from sabotage and/or attack, as well as prevention of dissident groups from gaining access to U.S. opinion, or a global audience in times of crisis."
FEMA's powers were consolidated by President Carter to incorporate..
the National Security Act of 1947, which allows for the strategic relocation of industries, services, government and other essential economic activities, and to rationalize the requirements for manpower, resources and production facilities..
the 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives the President sweeping powers over all aspects of the economy..
the Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes the Secretary of the Army, in time of war, to take possession of any transportation system for transporting troops, material, or any other purpose related to the emergency.. and
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which enables the President to seize the property of a foreign country or national..
These powers were transferred to FEMA in a sweeping consolidation in 1979..
HURRICANE ANDREW FOCUSED ATTENTION ON FEMA
FEMA's deceptive role really did not come to light with much of the public until Hurricane Andrew smashed into the U.S. mainland..
As Russell R. Dynes, director of the Disaster Research Center of the University of Delaware, wrote in The World and I..
"...The eye of the political storm hovered over the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA became a convenient target for criticism."
Because FEMA was accused of dropping the ball in Florida, the media and Congress commenced to study this agency..
What came out of the critical look was that FEMA was spending 12 times more for "black operations" than for disaster relief..
It spent $1.3 billion building secret bunkers throughout the United States in anticipation of government disruption by foreign or domestic upheaval..
Yet fewer than 20 members of Congress , only members with top security clearance, know of the $1.3 billion expenditure by FEMA for non-natural disaster situations..
These few Congressional leaders state that FEMA has a "black curtain" around its operations..
FEMA has worked on National Security programs since 1979, and its predecessor, the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency, has secretly spent millions of dollars before being merged into FEMA by President Carter in 1979..
FEMA has developed 300 sophisticated mobile units that are capable of sustaining themselves for a month..
The vehicles are located in five areas of the United States. They have tremendous communication systems and each contains a generator that would provide power to 120 homes each, but..
Have never been used for disaster relief..
FEMA's enormous powers can be triggered easily..
In any form of domestic or foreign problem, perceived and not always actual, emergency powers can be enacted..
The President of the United States now has broader powers to declare martial law, which activates FEMA's extraordinary powers..
Martial law can be declared during time of increased tension overseas, economic problems within the United States, such as a depression, civil unrest, such as demonstrations or scenes like the Los Angeles riots, and in a drug crisis..
These Presidential powers have increased with successive Crime Bills, particularly the 1991 and 1993 Crime Bills, which increase the power to suspend the rights guaranteed under the Constitution and to seize property of those suspected of being drug dealers, to individuals who participate in a public protest or demonstration..
Under emergency plans already in existence, the power exists to suspend the Constitution and turn over the reigns of government to FEMA and appointing military commanders to run state and local governments..
FEMA then would have the right to order the detention of anyone whom there is reasonable ground to believe...will engage in, or probably conspire with others to engage in acts of espionage or sabotage..
The plan also authorized the establishment of concentration camps for detaining the accused, but no trial..
Three times since 1984, FEMA stood on the threshold of taking control of the nation..
Once under President Reagan in 1984, and twice under President Bush in 1990 and 1992. But under those three scenarios, there was not a sufficient crisis to warrant risking martial law..
Most experts on the subject of FEMA and Martial Law insisted that a crisis has to appear dangerous enough for the people of the United States before they would tolerate or accept complete government takeover..
The typical crisis needed would be threat of imminent nuclear war, rioting in several U.S. cites simultaneously, a series of national disasters that affect widespread danger to the populous, massive terrorist attacks, a depression in which tens of millions are unemployed and without financial resources, or a major environmental disaster..
THREE TIMES FEMA STOOD BY READY FOR EMERGENCY
In April 1984, President Reagan signed Presidential Director Number 54 that allowed FEMA to engage in a secret national "readiness exercise" under the code name of REX 84..
The exercise was to test FEMA's readiness to assume military authority in the event of a "State of Domestic National Emergency" concurrent with the launching of a direct United States military operation in Central America..
The plan called for the deputation of U.S. military and National Guard units so that they could legally be used for domestic law enforcement..
These units would be assigned to conduct sweeps and take into custody an estimated 400,000 undocumented Central American immigrants in the United States. The immigrants would be interned at 10 detention centers to be set up at military bases throughout the country..
REX 84 was so highly guarded that special metal security doors were placed on the fifth floor of the FEMA building in Washington, D.C. Even long-standing employees of the Civil Defense of the Federal Executive Department possessing the highest possible security clearances were not being allowed through the newly installed metal security doors..
Only personnel wearing a special red Christian cross or crucifix lapel pin were allowed into the premises. Lt. Col. North was responsible for drawing up the emergency plan, which U.S. Attorney General William French Smith opposed vehemently..
The plan called for the suspension of the Constitution, turning control of the government over to FEMA, appointment of military commanders to run state and local governments and the declaration of Martial Law..
The Presidential Executive Orders to support such a plan were already in place..
The plan also advocated the rounding up and transfer to "assembly centers or relocation camps" of a least 21 million American Negroes in the event of massive rioting or disorder, not unlike the rounding up of the Jews in Nazi Germany in the 1930s..
The second known time that FEMA stood by was in 1990 when Desert Storm was enacted..
Prior to President Bush's invasion of Iraq, FEMA began to draft new legislation to increase its already formidable powers..
One of the elements incorporated into the plan was to set up operations within any state or locality without the prior permission of local or state authorities..
Such prior permission has always been required in the past..
Much of the mechanism being set into place was in anticipation of the economic collapse of the Western World..
The war with Iraq may have been conceived as a ploy to boost the bankrupt economy, but it only pushed the West into deeper recession..
The third scenario for FEMA came with the Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King brutality verdict..
Had the rioting spread to other cities, FEMA would have been empowered to step in. As it was, major rioting only occurred in the Los Angeles area, thus preventing a pretext for a FEMA response..
On July 5, 1987, the Miami Herald published reports on FEMA's new goals..
The goal was to suspend the Constitution in the event of a national crisis, such as nuclear war, violent and widespread internal dissent, or national opposition to a U.S. military invasion abroad..
Lt. Col. North was the architect. National Security Directive Number 52 issued in August 1982, pertains to the "Use of National Guard Troops to Quell Disturbances."
The crux of the problem is..
That FEMA has the power to turn the United States into a police state in time of a real crisis or a manufactured crisis. Lt. Col. North virtually established the apparatus for dictatorship..
Only the criticism of the Attorney General prevented the plans from being adopted. But intelligence reports indicate that FEMA has a folder with 22 Executive Orders for the President to sign in case of an emergency..
It is believed those Executive Orders contain the framework of North's concepts, delayed by criticism but never truly abandoned..
The crisis, as the government now see it, is civil unrest..
For generations, the government was concerned with nuclear war, but the violent and disruptive demonstrations that surrounded the Vietnam War era prompted President Nixon to change the direction of emergency powers from war time to times of domestic unrest..
Diana Raynolds, program director of the Edward R. Murrow Center, summed up the dangers of FEMA today and the public reaction to Martial Law in a drug crisis..
"It was James Madison's worst nightmare that a righteous faction would someday be strong enough to sweep away the Constitutional restraints designed by the framers to prevent the tyranny of centralized power, excessive privilege, an arbitrary governmental authority over the individual..
These restraints, the balancing and checking of powers among branches and layers of government, and the civil guarantees, would be the first casualties in a drug-induced national security state with Reagan's Civil Emergency Preparedness unleashed..
Nevertheless, there would be those who would welcome NSC (National Security Council) into the drug fray, believing that increasing state police powers to emergency levels is the only way left to fight American's enemy within..
In the short run, a national security state would probably be a relief to those whose personal security and quality of life has been diminished by drugs or drug related crime..
And, as the general public watches the progression of institutional chaos and social decay, they too may be willing to pay the ultimate price..
One drug free America for 200 years of democracy."
The first targets in any FEMA emergency would be Hispanics and Blacks, the FEMA orders call for them to be rounded up and detained..
Tax protesters, demonstrators against government military intervention outside U.S. borders, and people who maintain weapons in their homes are also targets..
Operation Trojan Horse is a program designed to learn the identity of potential opponents to martial law..
The program lures potential protesters into public forums, conducted by a "hero" of the people who advocates survival training. The list of names gathered at such meetings and rallies are computerized and then targeted in case of an emergency..
The most shining example of America to the world has been its peaceful transition of government from one administration to another..
Despite crises of great magnitude, the United States has maintained its freedom and liberty..
This nation now stands on the threshold of rule by non-elected people asserting non-Constitutional powers..
Even Congress cannot review a Martial Law action until six months after it has been declared..
For the first time in American history, the reigns of government would not be transferred from one elected element to another, but the Constitution, itself, can be suspended..
The scenarios established to trigger FEMA into action are generally found in the society today, economic collapse, civil unrest, drug problems, terrorist attacks, and protests against American intervention in a foreign country..
All these premises exist, it could only be a matter of time in which one of these triggers the entire emergency necessary to bring FEMA into action, and then it may be too late..
Because..
Under the FEMA plan..
There is no contingency by which Constitutional power is restored..
Far Left sees massive military mobilization in US cities..
Black Hawk helicopters over Las Vegas, snipers in Times Square..
2004 begins with massive military mobilization in US cities..
By David Walsh
3 January 2004
The new year began in the US under conditions of an unparalleled mobilization of police, army and federal law enforcement agents in major urban centers. Alleging a heightened threat of terrorist attacks and operating under the Department of Homeland Security’s “Orange Alert,” the Bush administration undertook measures such as were never seen during the Second World War or at the height of the Cold War.
Major events scheduled for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day took place under bizarre circumstances. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge declared that Americans “need to go out and celebrate New Year’s,” even as he banned flights over New York City, Chicago and Las Vegas and ordered Black Hawk military helicopters to hover over Manhattan’s Times Square, where some 750,000 people gathered to welcome in the new year, the Las Vegas strip, and the Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena, California.
Snipers manned the rooftops over Times Square, while New York streets and its harbor were flooded with thousands of police, including many plainclothes officers. Bomb-sniffing dogs were on duty in New York and counter-terror units carried equipment to detect chemical, biological or radiological contamination.
Authorities suspended oil shipments for two days from Alaska’s major port of Valdez as part of “a continuing effort to ensure the security of our homeland,” in the words of a Department of Homeland Security official.
These measures, aimed at terrorizing and intimidating the population, must be taken as a serious warning of the aims of the Bush administration in 2004 and beyond.
The military and police mobilization over New Year’s failed to produce any arrests or evidence of a terrorist plot. Yet this far-flung operation did not provoke the slightest skepticism or criticism from within the media and political establishment. Not a single voice—least of all from the Democratic Party—suggested that the government should be required to substantiate its claims or justify its extraordinary measures.
This posture of unquestioning faith in the good word of the Bush administration follows the thorough exposure of its pre-war statements in support of war against Iraq—from lurid tales of WMD stockpiles to allegations of Iraqi links to Al Qaeda—as a tissue of lies. No one on the public airwaves so much as suggests that a government that lies in order to drag its population into war should not be given a carte blanche to militarize all aspects of daily life within the US.
US officials also took unprecedented steps in regard to air travel. They forced British and Mexican airlines to cancel flights and US fighter jets escorted several Air France flights into American airspace. These actions were taken, according to government spokesmen, in response to “real and definite” threats.
Six flights between Paris and Los Angeles were canceled December 24 and 25. Passengers on board British Airways Flight 223 from London on New Year’s Eve were detained for several hours at Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport and questioned by federal agents. The daily flights from London to Washington DC were subsequently cancelled on January 1 and 2. British Airways also cancelled a flight from London to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ridge suggested that Al Qaeda-trained pilots or flight crew members might have infiltrated an international airline. “Since we know that they’ve trained pilots before, we take it as a fact that there may be some out there that have been trained—how completely trained, we don’t know,” he told reporters.
US intelligence may possibly have wind of further terrorist attacks on air traffic. The measures taken are so financially damaging to the airlines that the existence of serious threats can by no means be ruled out. At the same time, the refusal of the US government to give the public any information about the alleged threats tends, if anything, to undermine the credibility of its claims, while militating against effective measures to protect the flying public and the population as a whole.
If, in fact, the threat to the traveling public has grown to the desperate level indicated by the US-dictated measures, the responsibility rests squarely with American imperialism and the policies of the Bush administration. The US government’s open-ended “war on terror,” including the invasion and occupation of Iraq, has enraged and alienated vast layers of the world’s Muslim population, who believe, with justification, that US imperialism is waging a war against them. The reckless and bloodthirsty policies of Bush and Company have doubtless produced new recruits for reactionary movements like Osama bin Laden’s.
These policies, far from protecting the people of the US and the world from terrorist crimes, have heightened the chances that thousands more innocent people will die in such attacks. They may very well have dangerously compromised the air traffic safety system. The feverish actions of the past several days suggest that the Bush administration is sitting atop a crisis of its own making, with which it does not know how to cope.
None of this can be discussed in the American media. The gangster character of the Bush administration is well known in official political and media circles, but no one suggests that it could have ulterior motives in setting its “Code Orange” alert in motion, or that the permanent terrorist threat might be linked in any fashion to US foreign policy.
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, the current frontrunner and supposed antiwar candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, refused to answer a question about the “Code Orange” while campaigning in New Hampshire, saying, “I’m not the one who sets the terror alert level.” Seeking to position himself as “tougher” on security issues than the Bush administration, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, another Democratic candidate, denounced the “preparedness gap” in the administration’s homeland security policies and proposed spending more federal money to build up the police and military presence at home.
Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut simply solidarized himself with Ridge and his Department of Homeland Security, declaring, “They made the right decision. They had enough intelligence information to make me worry about the possibility of another terrorist threat, and a serious one.”
The notion that the claims of the Bush administration should be taken at face value is absurd. This is a government that took office through the hijacking of a national election and systematically lied to justify an illegal invasion of Iraq.
It has provided no explanation for the events of September 11, 2001, and has opposed any serious probe of the terrorist attacks, including an examination of the past and present connections of US intelligence to Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network. The anthrax attack, an attempt to assassinate the leadership of the opposition party in Congress, has resulted in no arrests or indictments.
What are the Bush administration’s real aims?
* To keep the population in a constant state of fear and anxiety as a means of justifying the occupation of Iraq and future wars presently in the planning stage, as well as the destruction of democratic rights at home.
* To acclimate the American people to the presence of the military in every facet of daily life.
* To carry out dry-run rehearsals for mass repression and the imposition of martial law at some future date.
* To divert attention from the mounting social crisis in America—the destruction of millions of jobs, the growth of long-term unemployment, and the increasingly malignant gap between the wealthy elite and the rest of the population.
The intensity and aggressiveness of the war drive and the assault on democratic rights are fueled by the social crisis, for which no section of the political establishment, conservative or “liberal,” has any answer. In addition to the nearly 20 million unemployed or underemployed, tens of millions more live on wages that are barely subsistence level.
The government and the media can crow all they like about the “economic recovery,” but the deterioration of the conditions of wide layers of the population is a fact of American life that must find explosive political expression, sooner rather than later.
The recent actions are directly linked as well to the Republicans’ 2004 electoral strategy. Black Hawk helicopters overhead, snipers on rooftops—this is an essential component of the Bush team’s election campaign. They intend to intimidate as much of the population as they can. They intend to keep the people off guard and on the defensive, hesitant about opposing a president “in war-time.”
Real or fabricated terrorist plots will be used to rationalize the most extreme attacks on democratic rights, up to and including the calling off of the national election itself.
As the World Socialist Web Site has previously stated, the gravest threat to the safety, security and basic rights of the American people does not come from foreign terrorists, real or imaginary, but from the US government, which is a government of conspiracy, secrecy and lies.
The complicity of the media establishment and the Democrats in the Bush administration’s provocations flows from the consensus that exists within the American ruling elite on the goal of US world hegemony. The “war on terror,” which every wing of the political elite supports, is the official euphemism for this strategy of global domination. The domestic consequence of this foreign policy is the regimentation and militarization of American life and the drift toward authoritarian rule.
These international and domestic processes are interconnected and inseparable. A critical political lesson—which can already be drawn from the war in Iraq and its repercussions in the US—has to be grasped as we enter 2004. It is not possible to resist the attacks on civil liberties and democratic rights at home without mounting a conscious and systematic opposition to US imperialist aggression abroad.
Conversely, it is not possible to effectively oppose US militarism apart from the building of a mass, independent movement of the working class in defense of democratic rights and the social interests of the broad masses of the people. Such a movement must strive to end the rule of the financial oligarchy and replace it with a workers’ government armed with a socialist program.
See Also:
Orange alert in US--terrorizing the American public again
24 December 2003
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jan2004/2004-j03.shtml
a truth is not hard to kill..
and a lie told well is immortal..
how true side..
but why?
IRS + UN = Taxpayers' Disaster..
If there is any organization in the world that is more incompetent than the US Internal Revenue Service, it's the United Nations..
Sure, some may argue that both render a needed service, one collecting financing for the US government, the other promoting world peace..
But the track record of both agencies is abysmal at best, and overall they are odoriferous..
The IRS strangles citizens in its incomprehensible rules and regulations, then persecutes taxpayers who can't understand
the IRS gobbledegook..
The UN boasts of world peace as it dithers and debates while wars and rumors of wars go on apace..
Now think about the idiotic concept of combing these two agencies!
An international IRS run by the UN?
Well, that's what the loonies of the international Left plan to have..
The UN wants to create an International Tax Organization (ITO) with the power to interfere with national tax policies..
This crazy idea first surfaced two years ago in a UN report. Since then, the UN has been working to make this reality and Gen. Sec. Kofi Annan recently called for the creation of a global tax commission..
No matter what it's called, an international bureaucracy with power over tax policy would be an assault on every nation's sovereignty..
The UN even sees the day when it can collect a world tax on all currency transactions and on energy consumption..
It also wants to give governments permanent taxing rights over emigrants, anyone who leaves one nation for another would be taxed..
The UN is just one of the global bureaucracies undermining fiscal sovereignty..
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) targets "harmful tax competition" and the European Union enthusiastically backs "tax harmonization."
In both cases they want more and higher taxes..
As Heritage Foundation tax expert Dan Mitchell says..
"There is an understandable temptation to dismiss these UN proposals as silly. After all, the US can veto any bad initiatives. But this passive approach is a mistake.."
We agree. You should educate yourself thoroughly about these dangerous proposals and let your elected national officials know your strong opposition..
It's bad enough to be forced to pay high taxes in one's own nation without also having to finance the world's loony Left as well..
That's way that it looks from here..
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
The FCC has ruled..
Earlier this year, that it is now ok to use the "f" word anytime day or night except in sexual situations..
In re Golden Globe Awards, File No. EB-03-IH-0110 (FCC 10/03/2003) http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2003/DA-03-3045A1.html
In this Memorandum Opinion and Order, issued pursuant to Section 0.111(a)(7) of the Commission's rules,2 we deny complaints received from the Parents Television Council and from certain individuals who have alleged that various television station licensees aired program material during the ``Golden Globe Awards'' program on January 19, 2003, that violates the federal restrictions regarding the broadcast of obscene and indecent material.3
The complainants allege that the licensees named in their respective complaints aired the ``Golden Globe Awards'' program, during which the performer Bono uttered the phrase ``this is really, really, fucking brilliant,'' or ``this is fucking great.''4 The complainants contend that such material is either obscene and/or indecent, and they request that the Commission levy sanctions against the licensees for the broadcast of the subject material.
Any consideration of government action against allegedly indecent programming must take into account the fact that such speech is protected under the First Amendment.9 The federal courts consistently have upheld Congress's authority to regulate the broadcast of indecent speech, as well the Commission's interpretation and implementation of the governing statute.10 Nevertheless, the First Amendment is a critical constitutional limitation that demands that, in indecency determinations, we proceed cautiously and with appropriate restraint.11
The Commission defines indecent speech as language that, in context, 12 depicts or describes sexual or excretory activities or organs in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium.13
Indecency findings involve at least two fundamental determinations. First, the material alleged to be indecent must fall within the subject matter scope of our indecency definition¾that is, the material must describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities. . . . Second, the broadcast must be patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium.14
As a threshold matter, the material aired during the ``Golden Globe Awards'' program does not describe or depict sexual and excretory activities and organs. The word ``fucking'' may be crude and offensive, but, in the context presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities. Rather, the performer used the word ``fucking'' as an adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation. Indeed, in similar circumstances, we have found that offensive language used as an insult rather than as a description of sexual or excretory activity or organs is not within the scope of the Commission's prohibition of indecent program content.15
Moreover, we have previously found that fleeting and isolated remarks of this nature do not warrant Commission action.16 Thus, because the complained-of material does not fall within the scope of the Commission's indecency prohibition, we reject the claims that this program content is indecent, and we need not reach the second element of the indecency analysis.
To be obscene, material must meet a three-prong test: (1) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (2) the material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and (3) the material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.17 Applying that test, we find that the material broadcast during the ``Golden Globe Awards'' program was not obscene. The use of specific words, including expletives or other ``four letter words'' does not render material obscene.18 Moreover, the complained-of material does not depict or describe sexual conduct and thus does not meet the obscenity standard under Miller v. California.19 Because the broadcast does not meet the obscenity standard under Miller, we deny the complaints alleging that the broadcast was obscene.
In view of the foregoing, we conclude that the various licensees that aired the ``Golden Globe Awards'' program on January 19, 2003, did not violate the law, and, therefore, no action is warranted.
David H. Solomon Chief, Enforcement Bureau
2 47 C.F.R. § 0.111(a)(7) (2002).
3 See 47 U.S.C. § 503(b) (2002), 18 U.S.C. § 1464 (2002), and 47 C.F.R. § 73.3999 (2002).
4 The complaints vary in their characterization of Bono's comments, and our analysis here applies equally to both versions.
5 U.S. CONST., amend. I; 47 U.S.C. § 326 (2002).
6 18 U.S.C. § 1464.
7 See 47 C.F.R. § 73.3999.
8 See 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(1).
9 U.S. CONST., amend. I; See Action for Children's Television v. FCC, 852 F.2d 1332, 1344 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (``ACT I'').
10 18 U.S.C. § 1464; FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978). See also ACT I, 852 F.2d at 1339; Action for Children's Television v. FCC, 932 F.2d 1504, 1508 (D.C. Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 914 (1992) (``ACT II''); Action for Children's Television v. FCC, 58 F. 3d 654 (D.C. Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1043 (1996) (``ACT III'').
11 ACT I, 852 F.2d at 1344 (``Broadcast material that is indecent but not obscene is protected by the First Amendment; the FCC may regulate such material only with due respect for the high value our Constitution places on freedom and choice in what people may say and hear.'') See also United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., 529 U.S. 803, 813-15 (2000).
12 The use of specific potentially offensive words is not in and of itself indecent. Industry Guidance on the Commission's Case Law Interpreting 18 U.S.C. §1464 and Enforcement Policies Regarding Broadcast Indecency (``Indecency Policy Statement''), 16 FCC Rcd 7999, 8002 ¶9 (``In determining whether material is patently offensive, the full context is critically important. It is not sufficient to know that explicit sexual terms or descriptions were used..., citing WPBN/WTOM License Subsidiary, Inc., 15 FCC Rcd 1838, 1841 (2000), Infinity Broadcasting Corp., 3 FCC Rcd 930, 931-32 (1987), aff'd in part, vacated in part, remanded sub nom ACT I, 852 F.2d 1332 (D.C. Cir. 1988)(subsequent history omitted). See Peter Branton, 6 FCC Rcd 610 (1991)(subsequent history omitted)(no language is per se indecent).
13 Infinity Broadcasting Corporation of Pennsylvania, 2 FCC Rcd 2705 (1987)(subsequent history omitted)(citing Pacifica Foundation, 56 FCC 2d 94, 98 (1975), aff'd sub nom. FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978)).
14 Indecency Policy Statement, 16 FCC Rcd 7999, 8002 ¶¶ 7-8 (2001) (emphasis in original).
15 Id. See, e.g., Entercom Buffalo License, LLC (WGR(AM)), 17 FCC Rcd 11997, 11999-12000 ¶¶ 7, 9-10 (EB 2002). See also, Peter Branton, 6 FCC Rcd at 610.
16 See, e.g., L.M. Communications of South Carolina, Inc. (WYBB(FM)), 7 FCC Rcd 1595 (MMB 1992)(a fleeting and isolated utterance (``[t]he hell I did, I drove the mother- fucker...'') within the context of live and spontaneous programming not actionable). See also Industry Guidance On the Commission's Case Law Interpreting 18 U.S.C. § 1464 and Enforcement Policies Regarding Broadcast Indecency, 16 FCC Rcd 7999, 8008-09 ¶18 (2001).
17 See Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 24 (1973).
18 See WGBH Educational Foundation (WGBH-TV), 69 FCC 2d 1250, 1253-54 (1978)(offensive language, including expletives, does not fit within the established definition of obscenity).
19 See Miller v. California, 413 U.S. at 18-19, 24.
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/122003a.asp
From a comparative perspective..
The United States is unusual if not unique in the lack of restraints on freedom of expression..
It is also unusual in the range and effectiveness of methods employed to restrain freedom of thought..
Where the voice of the people is heard..
Elite groups must insure their voice says the right things."
~ Noam Chomsky ~
American linguist and political writer
Source.. Index On Censorship, July/August 1986
there are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil..
to one who is striking at the root..
~ Henry D. Thoreau ~
if one speaks the truth..
friends may not one have many of..
but no one will get hurt by it..
~ vex ~
that's the one..
thanks greg and gary..
Yes sideeki..
This just brings out further the true intent of the nwo..
slaves to a system..
that cater to elitists..
under the proper common law dejure government we are the masters and government are our slaves..
under the existing defacto system run by the international money changers, we are enemies of the state..
that translates to a system that sucks the pure energy from the unknowing (many) for the benefit of a select few..
when the government fears the people..
we have liberty..
when the people fear the government..
we have tyranny..
~ Thomas Jefferson ~
where are we today?
when rights have been changed to privileges and slaves are in a constant battle to keep them..should make most wonder why..
4 is the number of the world..it is of no surprise the nwo is here..
Does this mean those behind the system are cognizant of natural reality and are letting those stuck in common reality(the many) play out their lives obliviously?
F.B.I. ~ READ AN ALMANAC .. BE A TERRORIST ..
FBI warns police to be alert for people carrying almanacs, a popular annual reference book could be used for terrorist planning..
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usfbi303605537dec30,0,5114149.story?coll=ny-nationworld-h...
PJ..how have so many?
become so numb..
sounds good to me!!
that translates to a system..
that sucks the pure energy from the unknowing(many)..
for the benefit of a select few..
slaves to a system..
that cater to elitists..
under the proper common law dejure government we are the masters and government are our slaves..
under the existing defacto system run by the international money changers, we are enemies of the state..
that translates to slaves of a system that suck the pure energy from the unknowing (many) for the benefit of a select few..
when the government fears the people..
we have liberty..
when the people fear the government..
we have tyranny..
~ Thomas Jefferson ~
where are we today?
when rights have been changed to privileges and slaves are in a constant battle to keep them..
should make most wonder why..
4 is the number of the world..it is of no surprise the nwo is here..
~ vex ~
phil..must have been out of that loop..
superfluous at best..